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  She extended her fangs, but because she’d already established a contact with his mind, he wasn’t alarmed. She already had control, and he knew what she wanted. Obediently he tipped his head to the side, exposing a long, strong, salty throat.

  Melody lowered her head and bit down, breaking the skin, opening a vein. She couldn’t drain him; she’d been ordered to be cautious when killing the conduits, so there wouldn’t be a trail of bloodless bodies that might lead the humans to the center of power and blow the whole revolution thing. He tasted so good, as if the basic sweetness of his nature flavored his blood. Melody hummed a little in delight, and because she was a generous person she reached down and stroked his penis while she fed. He gave a little moan and pumped his hips against her hand.

  “That’s good, sugar,” she whispered. “Isn’t it good?” Without waiting for an answer she drew deeply of his blood, lost in the moment, in the lovely feel of his body and the taste of his life force, in the energy that coursed through her as she fed.

  Finally she made herself stop drinking; she didn’t dare take any more. With lingering movements of her tongue she licked his throat, waited for the healing to kick in and close the bite. That done, she placed a strong hand over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air. She hated that she had to use this method to kill when her own appetite was so much more efficient. It just made no sense to waste that much food. But she was a good soldier, so she did what she’d been told.

  He didn’t struggle, except for a brief twitch. She kept his nose and mouth covered until his heart had ceased to beat. Her job done, Melody patted him on the head, then touched his cheek. At least his last few minutes alive had been happy ones. She found some comfort in that thought. She wasn’t a monster, she was just … different. More than that, she was better. Better than she’d ever been before, better than humans, who knew so little and existed for the benefit of those like her.

  She took her time putting on her clothes, watching through the tinted glass windows as the last of the bar patrons came out, got in their various vehicles, and left. They didn’t pay a bit of attention to the truck. He’d left it parked here a few nights lately, getting rides with friends when he was too drunk to drive, or sleeping in the backseat.

  When the last patron left and the neon beer sign went out, Melody climbed out of the truck, closing the door behind her.

  It bothered her that the conduit hadn’t fought. Even though he’d been glamoured, his body should have struggled for air. Maybe she’d taken too much. She didn’t have the kind of control an older vampire possessed, but that wasn’t her fault, was it? She’d get older … eventually. But if she’d taken too much blood and some backcountry coroner got suspicious, she’d be in trouble. It really would be best if there wasn’t enough left of the body for any medical examiner to study.

  The good thing was, she had a natural talent that had come to life when she’d been turned, one that came in very handy when she wanted to hide some evidence. She lifted her hand, applied some concentration as she stared at her palm, and a small lick of flame flared to life there. She didn’t feel any pain or heat from the flames, because it was her fire.

  She stood back and with a flick of her hand sent that flame toward the pickup. It caught, licked across the seat, and with her mind she sent it racing through the cab, where it engulfed the body. Stepping farther away, she drove the fire onward, sending it in search of the gas tank. That took some doing, because she really wasn’t sure where gas tanks were located, but by the time she struck pay dirt—so to speak—she was far enough away that the explosion didn’t do much more than ruffle her hair.

  A man came running out of the bar, alarmed by the noise of the explosion. Taken aback, Melody stared at him. She’d completely forgotten about the bartender. The older man raced toward her. “Dear God, what happened?” he yelled as he fumbled for the cell phone in his pocket.

  Dammit! Under most circumstances Melody wouldn’t have cared that her presence had been noticed, but her orders were clear: don’t draw attention to what was happening, or else. She didn’t want to find out what “or else” meant, though she had a very good idea. The last thing she wanted was to make Sorin unhappy. She had to handle this, and do it fast.

  In the blink of an eye she moved in front of the bartender, startling him. “Wha—” he began, already stepping back, but she caught his gaze and he was hers. She saw the reflection of the fire in his eyes, then she was in his mind.

  “I wasn’t here,” she said calmly. “That poor boy’s been sleeping in the back of his truck lately, and you knew that but didn’t mind.”

  “I didn’t mind,” the bartender echoed.

  “Poor fella,” Melody continued. “He hasn’t been himself lately. He’s been moping around about the divorce, and he just seemed so sad.” Slowly she walked away, and when she was out of the bartender’s line of sight she released his mind.

  She watched as he fumbled with his cell phone, listened to the frantic call. “Send the fire truck, the ambulance, whatever you got!”

  Walking down the side of the narrow road in the darkness, Melody smiled to herself. That had been fun.

  Another conduit would soon be hers. As soon as she reported in that she’d succeeded here, she’d be given another assignment. How would she kill the next one? Knife, pillow, gun, a shove off the side of a cliff … it all depended on who and where. She had to be more careful about taking too much blood next time, though, but when the rebels succeeded and vampires ruled, she wouldn’t ever have to be careful again. Cool, she thought. Very cool.

  CHAPTER

  ONE

  The Scottish Highlands

  There was something special about Scotland in the summer that made it one of his favorite places in the world. It was more than the rain and clouds and heavy mist that called Luca Ambrus here; it was the taste of what had come before, a palpable history that flowed so vividly in his memory that sometimes he could close his eyes and hear the voices of people long gone, feel the impact and vibration of a sword in his hands during countless battles, smell the peat fires. He’d actually been born in Greece—his olive skin gave away his Mediterranean heritage—but he’d spent many more years in Scotland than he had in Greece and was far more at home here. Greece was too hot and sunny; he much preferred cool, misty, foggy places.

  There were times when he craved the noise and movement and excitement of a city, but more often he preferred his own company and his own thoughts. If he hadn’t been comfortable within himself, he’d have gone mad many centuries ago. But he was comfortable and grounded, to use the current phrasing, so he was very content to pass days, weeks, at a time without seeing another soul. The trick was to live in the moment, to enjoy each successive year for itself, for the changes that came both slow and fast, and for the things that never changed. He enjoyed life, and didn’t necessarily require companionship.

  His home here in the Highlands was an elegant cottage with all the modern conveniences, far away from the larger cities. He saw no need to sacrifice his comfort for solitude when he could have both. Once he’d have had to choose between them, but no longer. Times changed. What good was living through the centuries if he couldn’t enjoy all that was offered?

  The things he’d seen come into being during the past hundred and fifty years! Even he, who was seldom surprised by anything, had watched with bemusement as change piled on change. Electric lights, telephones, automobiles, airplanes—it was almost too much to take in, though he enjoyed them very much. He loved movies and television, the travel, the thrill of driving a fast car or getting on a plane and a few hours later being thousands of miles away. The humans had even managed to go into space; the audacity of such fragile creatures was either valiant or incredibly stupid, and despite two millennia studying them he hadn’t yet decided which it was. Both, perhaps.

  He had money, and he had time. If he was in the mood for city life he stayed in his place near Seattle, Washington. When he wanted peace and quiet, he came here
. In a while he would tire of the quiet and move on, but for now … for now the solitude was as necessary to his survival as blood. Immortality didn’t come without a price.

  Still, he never stayed in one place very long—“long” being a relative term. A month might seem long to some, but to him it was the blink of the eye, a heartbeat. It wasn’t in his nature to nest. He was a hunter at heart, and he enjoyed the thrill of the chase even more than the inevitable end when the prey was his. One day soon he would feel the call—or receive an actual call—and in a flash he would leave behind his beloved solitude to lose himself once more in the blood hunt.

  When twilight came, Luca left his cottage and walked out into the cool fresh air. This was the time of day he liked best, when the fading light and gathering darkness accentuated the aloneness he sometimes craved as if it were as tangible as the earth he walked upon. He took a course that led him through a fragrant meadow, with the craggy mountains looming over him and deepening the shadows. His boots cut slowly through the tall grass. There was no hurry in his movements, no need beyond the moment. He was old enough that he no longer had to feed very often, unless he was burning a lot of energy, which allowed him to escape from the world for days, even weeks, at a time. The hunger, the need, would eventually come, and when it did he would feed.

  But he wasn’t hungry tonight. Tonight he was satisfied to walk these stark, dramatic hills and remember the battles that had been fought here. There was a lot to remember, because there had been so many battles, so many wars. Easily destroyed or not, his human fellow warriors had thrown themselves into war with such complete lack of caution that he could only marvel. It wasn’t as if they didn’t know they were mortal; they did. And still they fought, often long past the point where sanity or common sense should have kicked in. Even after centuries of watching them, preying on them, sometimes fighting beside them, humans could still bemuse him.

  He didn’t know exactly how old he was; he knew he was over two thousand, but he couldn’t pin down a year or even a birth date, if he’d ever known it at all. Vampires in general weren’t big on calendars, even assuming his mother had known the date he’d been born. He’d kept track for a while, the first four or five hundred years, but after that he’d lost interest because the number wasn’t important; after all, no one would be throwing a birthday party for him. All that was important was his personal power, which had grown with each passing century and would continue to increase, until now the number who equaled him in some ways could be counted on one hand. In power lay safety, and one of the first lessons he’d learned was to always watch his back, even with his own kind, which was why he didn’t live among them.

  He had everything he needed here. In a lot of ways he was more comfortable with humans than he was with the kindred, because he could relax with humans. He didn’t fear them, didn’t have to be wary of them. They were puny in so many ways, a lot of fun in others, and best of all, they never remembered him.

  A small village lay just over the farthest hill. When he had to feed, he went there. And when he left after feeding, the people he’d met, even those he’d fed upon, immediately forgot he’d been there at all. Every time he entered the village, the residents greeted him as a new visitor. That was his power, his curse, his salvation: no one remembered him. When he passed by, he passed out of their lives as if he’d never been there at all. Only the strongest of his own kind could resist the power, which meant he could come and go as he wished. To be forgotten as soon as he was out of sight was as good as being invisible, and gave him a freedom that other vampires could only dream of having.

  He was engrossed in one particularly delicious memory when the portable satellite phone in his pocket rang. He cursed under his breath. The one thing he didn’t enjoy about modern life was the ease of communication. In the old days, the Council would have had to send him a written summons, which, depending on where he was, could take months to reach him. Not that the length of time mattered, because no matter how long a rogue vampire had to go to ground, Luca always found his prey.

  Dammit. His position with the Council required that he always be available, but he’d just completed an assignment and he needed to get away from the irritation he felt around crowds of people. Normally months, sometimes years would pass before the Council summoned him again, but the call had to be from them because few others knew how to reach him. He didn’t blithely give out his number, not even to the older, stronger vampires who could remember him. What was the point? Vampires didn’t call to chat. Besides, he made other vampires nervous. Even most of the Council members, who were powerful in their own rights, were wary of him. And as far as he was concerned, that was a good thing.

  Politics didn’t interest him at all, so his involvement with the Council wasn’t entirely logical. The ruling branch of vampire society was as beset by back-stabbing, deal-brokering, lobbying, and special interests as any government yet devised by humans. But he had skills others did not, and for more years than he could count he’d been an integral part of the workings of the Council. His assignments gave him a sense of purpose, and besides, even this place bored him after a while.

  Individually and collectively the Council had offered him a more permanent position, a seat at the table of power, but he’d turned them down so many times he thought they should long since have stopped asking. The Council members were as heavily protected as any American president, and he’d go stir-crazy if he had to live all but imprisoned in the Council headquarters. Their quarters were luxurious, but a prison was still a prison, no matter how high the thread count on the sheets.

  They would keep calling until he answered the phone. Annoyed, he pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the number. His eyebrows rose as concern replaced his annoyance, and he thumbed the talk button. “Ambrus,” he said. Hector wasn’t the member of the ruling Council charged with assigning Luca’s missions, but he was an old friend and he wouldn’t call unless it was important. In the more than six hundred years they’d known each other, they’d also learned to trust each other, something important in the vampire world. Together they’d seen a lot of changes in the vampire community. They’d kept the peace, and they had protected the secret of their very existence, using whatever methods were necessary.

  Hector hadn’t been a young man when he’d been turned, and though he was strong he wasn’t at a physical peak, the way Luca was. Hector’s strength was in his mind, his shrewdness and his control.

  “There’s a serious problem,” Hector said without preamble. It wasn’t like him to be so abrupt. He was almost twelve hundred years old, so he’d learned there was almost never a need for haste or impatience.

  Luca turned to walk back toward his cottage. A problem for the Council meant that, like it or not, he’d soon be on his way to D.C. “What sort of problem?”

  Hector hesitated. “I think there’s a traitor on the Council.”

  Luca stopped in his tracks. “A traitor … How?” It was a serious accusation, but not one he could easily dismiss, simply because this was Hector. Treason in the vampire world meant one thing: a vampire doing something stupid that could result in exposure to the humans. Still, exactly what did “traitor” mean? Attacks against the Council didn’t count as treason, because Council members, like all the other vampires, had to survive by their own strength and wits. If they couldn’t manage that, then they were dead, and the stronger stepped into their places.

  “A rebel faction has formed. Their position is that they’re tired of living in the dark, that vampires are superior to humans—which is true—so they want to overcome the humans and take over the government. One of the Council has joined them. I’m certain of it, but I haven’t been able to find out who.”

  Luca grunted, but otherwise restrained his reaction. If Hector was right—and he almost always was—then this was definitely a serious situation. Periodically someone or a group of someones would decide it was outrageous that vampires had to hide their existence, and they would have to
be dealt with before they could expose the entire race. Never before had a Council member joined in that idea, though, which immediately made the situation more dire.

  With some common sense and caution, vampires could live in relative peace because humans didn’t believe they were real. The Council made the rules that ensured that peace, and whenever any vampire didn’t obey, well, that was where Luca came in. A vampire who fed and killed indiscriminately risked them all, so Luca was called in to handle the problem.

  Because he could come and go pretty much as he wanted, and no human remembered him, there were no repercussions. Not only that, he was old enough and strong enough that he could go out in daylight, which meant most vampires were helpless against him. He executed them during the day only under the most extreme circumstances, such as if the vampire had gone totally mad and any delay was too dangerous. Otherwise, he faced his prey and at least gave them the opportunity to fight. They never won—obviously, or he wouldn’t still be here—but the exercise gave him fighting practice. Executing a sleeping vampire wasn’t any fun at all.

  He could almost—almost—have some sympathy with the rebels. There were many vampires who considered all humans as far beneath them as a cow or a chicken might be to those humans. They were necessary for nourishment, but to be forced to hide from them out of fear, to be made to cower in the dark … some vampire egos couldn’t handle it. Luca didn’t quite see things that way. For one, he didn’t cower. For another, he had fought beside humans, made love to human women, enjoyed their progresses and inventions, and sometimes laughed at their actions until he was exhausted and his ribs ached. Humans were endlessly entertaining, if nothing else.

  “I’ll be there tomorrow,” Luca said as he resumed his distance-eating stride.

  “Hurry,” Hector urged, and his voice changed as his power surged, his tone and cadence sliding into the rhythm that said he was seeing the future. “Battle is in the air. I smell it. I can almost touch it. Death is coming. Death is coming for us.” With a click, the call disconnected.